just you & me: a collection of leeham drabbles
by katiekayx
Summary: a bunch of stand alone pieces featuring our favorite red!verse couple, lincoln lee and altlivia dunham. please review if you read!
1. Red

He was seeing red. It happened a lot, when matters concerned her. He supposed he should be seeing green, because he was sick with jealousy over the thought of her marrying Frank, but really, it was red. He was angry. He was angry because she didn't seem at all happy when he had spilled the beans about Frank's plans to propose, and now, a few days later, she said she was going to marry him. Hell, he saw the ring on her finger the moment she got to work, and he had been halfway across the room. Just thinking about how she showed it off to people made him feel sick.

He wasn't lying, when he said that he would be happy if she was happy. He was, but that's just the thing. He didn't think Frank could make her happy. That's what made him upset. He didn't mean to sound insensitive, or cocky, but really. How could a guy like that make her happy? Why was she settling?

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, but not before he was nearly knocked off his feet by a slap to the back of his head as he reclined in his chair in his office. He saw red once more, but this time it was her hair as she whipped around angrily. "What the hell, Liv?"

"What on Earth were you thinking?" She hissed through clenched teeth, and he rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head as she glared at him.

"Excuse me for giving my two cents. I am your boss, but you're right, I should stay out of work-related decisions."

"Work related? I'm sorry, did I miss the part where I needed your permission to talk on the phone about my honeymoon to my mother? And you didn't just give your two cents; you practically chewed me out for making a personal call."

"I didn't chew you out, and in case you forgot, yes, you do need my permission, seeing as how you're going to need time off."

"You'd really do that to me?" She asked him coldly, and he saw a flash of hurt in her green eyes. He knew he was overreacting and he knew that he shouldn't be doing this – letting his emotions get in the way of his job. "What is your problem?" She asked again, and Lincoln saw Charlie hovering outside the door, a concerned look on his face. Sure, Olivia and Lincoln argued, but it was never like this.

"Charlie, can you give us a minute please?" Lincoln asked, and Charlie looked at him warily before looking at Olivia, almost asking her permission. She nodded subtly, and he looked back at Lincoln quickly before walking back to his desk. Lincoln walked around his desk and shut the door, pulling the blinds as well.

"Are you going to tell me what your problem is or not? Because I have work to do, there's a case that Charlie needs my help on and-"

"Olivia. Stop." Lincoln said quietly, but firmly, and Olivia did what he asked, before crossing her arms over her chest as she looked at him, waiting for him to talk. "Well?"

He ran a hand over his face, taking a deep breath. "Don't marry him." He said, his gaze boring into hers.

"Wh… What?" Liv stuttered, sure she wasn't hearing him right.

He took a step towards her. "Don't marry him. Don't, Liv."

"I don't understand… you said you were happy for me. You said you were happy if I was happy."

"Are you? Are you happy? Because if you are, I'll leave it alone. You'll marry him and live happily ever after, and I'll be… well, I won't be fine, but I'll be better."

"That's what's been making you such a pain in the ass lately?"

Lincoln rolled his eyes, "I've… been having problems dealing with it, yes. I'm just… I'm angry because you don't seem happy with him, Liv. You don't seem happy, yet you're going to marry him anyway."

"How would you know if I'm-"

"I _know_ you, Liv. I know you better than anyone else, you've even said it yourself." He was close to begging her now, and he had sworn to himself that he wasn't going to let it get this far. He was just going to say his peace and that would be it. But it was never enough. He always had something else to say to her. "Look, I'm jealous, okay? But it's more than that," he tried to ignore her sharp intake of breath, "I just can't stand to see you settling for someone that doesn't treat you the way you deserve to be treated. He leaves you for weeks at a time and I understand that it's his job, but… I don't know. You're always talking about how when he's home he's busy and to be fair, if I were him, I'd take a look at what's right in front of me, because you're too special to be ignored, Liv."

Olivia was staring at him, shell shocked, and he thought he blew it. He overreacted, she was going to hate him now that she knew how he felt about her and Frank's relationship. He didn't count on her getting in his face and slapping him lightly on the cheek. "You waited until _now_ to tell me this? Why would you do that? What on Earth Lincoln… I swear, I don't even know what to think…"

She trailed off, and he touched the side of his face, warm from where her palm had been. She glanced at him. "Sorry," she said quietly, "I didn't mean to hit you. I just… why now?"

"I'm not going to say it. It's too cliché and too stupid and you'd just hate me for it anyway."

"Lincoln."

He clenched his fists and looked at the floor, "I can't stand the thought of you marrying him. It makes me feel sick, and if you go through with it, Liv, I can't be there. I can't watch you marry someone else."

She looked as if she was going to cry, and Lincoln's heart clenched painfully watching tears in her eyes. He never wanted to hurt her or make her cry; didn't he just tell her that he'd never treat her like this? He wanted to jump out the nearest window.

He saw another flash of red before he could understand what was happening, and then she was kissing him, and his heart was doing a weird fluttering thing inside his chest, and he felt on fire, and he saw red, for the millionth time that day. Minutes slowed down and he savored every second, fully expecting her to change her mind and freak out. When she moved away from him again, he didn't speak. He barely wanted to breathe.

"I was talking to my Mother on the phone because she found out that Frank and I cancelled our honeymoon plans." She said slowly, keeping her eyes on his expression, which was bordering on desperation. He couldn't stand still, so he moved closer to her.

"What?" He asked, slowly.

"I'm not getting married, Lincoln. If you would have waited for four seconds, I would have told you, but you jumped down my throat instead."

"You're messing with me. Please don't be messing with me."

"I'm not." She said firmly, and he finally let himself smile.

"Liv…"

"We have a lot of talking to do. But later, okay? There's a case that needs solving, so I'm going to go help Charlie."

Lincoln just nodded, unable to form words. She smiled at him, and he realized that he was no longer seeing red. Instead he was concentrating on the green of her eyes, instead of the green of his jealousy.


	2. Burn Us Both Alive

_**A/N: **Hello hello! This one was inspired by a song by the amazing band Milo Greene called "Burn Us Both Alive" (you can watch a live performance on youtube) and it made me think of Lincoln and Liv when I first heard it. This stand alone kind of travels through time a bit, snapshots of their relationship, really. So I hope you like it! It's a bit shorter than I usually write, but again, these are just drabbles, so they're not meant to be long :')  
>Please review if you read! (I don't own any of the characters, Fringe, or the song)<em>

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><p><em>Even if your heart stops, I'll be there to hold you up. And even as the world turns, I'll be there to watch the fire burn, burn us both alive.<em>

He's never had to question what he would do for her. He knew that, worst come to worst, he would try to move the world if it meant it would help her. He would give his own life, if he thought that it would make the world a better place for her to live in.

And now he was thinking for two people. There was her son to consider, after all. It was strange, he thought, that he could feel such affection for a child that wasn't his, was not even at all related to him. He felt it though. He felt the fierce protection that a parent would feel for their child, and it was the same thing. He didn't question the limits he would go to protect them.

It seemed like with every passing day, he had to protect them more. Hell, he almost lost them both before Henry was even born. The world was literally falling to pieces around them, and while they tried to live a normal life, it was impossible to ignore. They were doing everything they could to try to patch the holes that Walter Bishop had ripped through their world (and while he would never admit it out loud, he sort of felt bad for the alternate version of his boss; a man who went through hell and back multiple times as a result of what he did. Sometimes Lincoln thought that he had paid for his mistake enough), but most days it seemed like a lost cause.

They were relying on the Fringe team on the other side to do most of the work, which neither Lincoln nor Olivia were completely comfortable with. While they were resigned to the fact that their alternates weren't the evil people they were told they were at the beginning, they still didn't know them. They could only hope that they would realize what was at stake. Not one universe, but both. The end of two worlds as they knew it.

Most days, they ignored what was going on. They'd work a case, go out for dinner afterwards, and come back to Olivia's apartment. They'd lay on the couch with Henry and watch some meaningless TV, and try to ignore the small signs that things were headed south, and quickly.

For Lincoln, the possibility that the world might end made him a rather emotional person. He wanted to tell her all the things that he's kept inside all these years. Saying you love someone as they're dying in your arms isn't exactly the same as telling them when things are normal. Doesn't carry the same weight, somehow. He wants to tell her. He doesn't.

One day, at Liv's apartment after a particularly bad case, she had simply looked at him and said, "Stay". He never left. He never left, and she never brought it up again. It was easy. They lived together. He cooked, she did their taxes. IT was never anything they had to think about. It was natural.

If it was strange to her, she never said anything, and he didn't voice his feelings; in fear of complicating something that felt so effortless. To this day, he's fairly certain that he's told her he loves her three times, but she's never said it back.

They aren't a physical couple. He kisses her cheek; she lays her head on his shoulder occasionally. He's never pushed his limits in this part of their life together either; he didn't want to scare her, or try to convince her of what he _knows_ she feels too fast, afraid she'd run from him.

The world is ending. It's ending, and they both know it, and they both try to deal with it in their own ways. He goes to the gym, and tries to punch out his frustrations. She runs. She runs like she's trying to run away from their world altogether. Believe it or not, he's suggested exactly that. "We could start over," he said one night. When she looks at him, he can't tell if she's sad, scared, or angry.

"They'd never let us stay there." She said quietly, and he dropped the subject, wondering if it was even worth it, considering the speed at which the other side was starting to deteriorate as well. They'd have a year longer than this side, maybe two. He knows this for a fact. Astrid told him. He never mentions it to Liv.

Henry is a year old now. He's walking too, which both excites and terrifies Lincoln. He baby-proofs the entire apartment, frustrating Liv to no end, though she secretly finds it endearing. Henry doesn't walk so much as he runs everywhere – his momentum is too much for him to control. This involves a lot of catching. Catch Henry before he runs off the balcony. Catch Henry when he runs into the back of Lincoln's legs, nearly falling backwards. They're exhausted, but at the same time, incredibly happy. This is around the time Lincoln thinks maybe he should propose. He doesn't.

One night is particularly bad. The power is out, everywhere, from what Fringe Division can tell. The earthquakes that had been so prominent the week before have subsided, for now. 4 year old Henry is afraid of the dark, and Lincoln and Liv are out of ideas of how to cheer him up. They decide to play hide and seek, and Henry wins every single round (their apartment is only so big), and this time Lincoln and Liv are hunched behind the couch, trying not to laugh as they can hear the pitter patter of Henry's feet on the wood floor.

They lock eyes, and something changes inside of Liv. She kisses Lincoln then, hard and desperate, and full of pent up emotions. "Mommy, Daddy, ew!" Henry squeals once he's found them, and Lincoln grins against her lips. Liv can't stop laughing, which makes Henry laugh, and the three of them are suddenly happier than they've ever been.

"He called me Daddy…" Lincoln laughs out, and Liv looks at him, that happy spark still in her eyes, and he knows. He knows that she finally, _finally_ feels what he feels and he knows it's all going to work out. If he has to stop the world ending himself just so she can have a future with him and their son (because Henry really was his son now, biological specifics be damned), he would do it.

_Even if your heart stops, I'll be there to hold you up. And even as the world turns, I'll be there to watch the fire burn, burn us both alive._


	3. Dance Me To The End of Love

**A/N:** _I'm back! This one is based on a cover by The Civil Wars, "Dance Me To The End of Love", and I love it so much. I couldn't resist writing a Leeham one-shot like this. There's not a lot to precede this, but it takes place when Frank and Liv were still together. Please review if you read!  
><em>

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><p>He had always wanted to take her dancing. Since they first were assigned to the same division and since they first became friends, he wanted to take her dancing. Obviously these sorts of after-work things were frowned upon, but he didn't much care for the rules. She had told him once that she had always wanted to go out for dinner and dancing, but Frank never took her.<p>

Frank was her boyfriend of three years. From what Lincoln could tell, they had met while Liv had been working a case a few years back. Frank worked for the CDC and was helping on a case, but Liv had never elaborated past that. "I can only imagine what you see in a guy like that," Lincoln had said to her once.

She laughed a little, "Well, he's kind of perfect, isn't he?"

Lincoln crossed his arms and leaned into her slightly, "No, _I_ am perfect. He's a close second." He tried to hold back a smile, but he was unsuccessful, breaking into a grin as he heard her laugh.

That had been a few months ago, and Lincoln had started to think that she and Frank were going through a rough patch. He was noticing small things about her that were different, most notably the way she wasn't as quick with a smile as she used to be. Things were strained in her life, and he liked to think that he could only tell because he knew her that well.

This brought us to today, and he was determined. They had just gotten through a particularly rough case – this one had children involved – and he wanted to get away from everything. His first thought was to go to the bar and drown his worries, but he really didn't feel much like doing that either.

She was looking a little worse for the wear. She ran her hand self consciously over her face as she sat at her desk, slowly completing case reports for her boss. Lincoln eyed her warily before making his way over to her slowly, "Hey." He said quietly, but she jumped nonetheless, and his eyes widened when he saw her hand automatically move an inch towards her holster. "Liv…" He breathed out, and she shut her eyes briefly before meeting his eyes.

"I'm sorry. You startled me, I didn't mean to…" She trailed off, taking a deep breath.

"It's okay, I didn't mean to scare you. I uh… would you want to go get something to eat?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I'm not really hungry Linc."

"You should eat something." He said, meeting her eyes once again. He had concern written all over his face, and she felt guilty for a minute.

She mustered a smile, "You're the boss…" She said, and stood up slowly, grabbing her jacket off the back of her chair. He walked up behind her and helped her into it.

"Don't call me that."

"What, the boss? You are though, I don't get why you get so uptight about it." She was smiling, teasing him, and he couldn't help the smile that came across his face as well.

"I didn't ask for this job, you know. I didn't even really want to get promoted." He said, feeling shy. He didn't know why he was so uncomfortable talking about his new job. He had liked the old one, when he was just part of the team, and partners with Liv. Now he felt like things had to change just because he was technically her boss.

They walked the few blocks to the bar in silence. Lincoln opened his mouth a few times to speak, but thought better of it, and closed his mouth before he told her what he was really thinking. He was thinking that it wasn't just today, after a rough case, that she didn't seem happy. He noticed it more and more lately, and it brought back that thought he had where he wanted to take her dancing. He realized he was smiling when she looked at him, a confused smile on her own face.

"Is something funny?" She asked, and he shook his head.

"No, I just had this thought earlier and I'm thinking it again."

"Care to share with me boss?" She said, elbowing him in the ribs lightly.

He grinned, "One: you really need to stop calling me that, and two: I was thinking that I would like to take you dancing one night."

She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and turned to look at him, "Are you serious?"

He shrugged, "Yes… why wouldn't I be? It's not a big deal; I just thought maybe it would cheer you up."

She smiled at him, and if he was honest, it was the first real smile he'd seen out of her in days. "You know, I think I have you all figured out, and then you go and do something like this." She didn't stop smiling.

"So… you'd rather go home then? Is that what you're saying?" He laughed when she tried to smack him on the arm. "Fine fine, let's go." He said, and without thinking, he grabbed her hand and pulled her down the street with him.

They walked for a few blocks before they got to the place he had been thinking of. Truth be told, he had never been there. He always wanted to, and now was his chance. As they got closer, he could hear the soft strains of a band playing inside, and when he looked at Liv, she had an eager smile on her face.

"There's a live band." She said, as if he hadn't realized this, and he laughed.

"Of course there is! You think I'd take you to some cheap place with a DJ to go dancing? Not a chance."

She grinned at him, and then it was his turn to be grabbed by the hand and be pulled into the small venue. The stage was small, and the dance floor was even smaller, but it was cozy, the kind of place that you could spend a few hours and want to spend a few hours more. On the stage were a guitarist, a violinist and a female singer, who were singing a soft song that had a hint of jazz to it. Lincoln immediately warmed to the place, and walked with Liv to a small table in the corner of the room.

They sat down and he ordered a drink for each of them. Remembering her distaste for alcohol, he ordered her a virgin Shirley Temple, which made her glare at him for almost three minutes. "I think this is a new record." He commented, watching as she struggled not to smile.

"Honestly, just because I don't drink doesn't mean I want something a seven year old would order."

"Um, I don't know if you realized, but they don't even let seven year olds into this place." He said matter-of-factly, and she glared at him even more, but he noticed it was harder for her to keep the slight smile off her face this time.

Are we actually going to do this? Dance?" She clarified, though he didn't really need her to. He knew what she meant, and if he was honest, he was kind of regretting taking her here. It made her happy, there was no doubt about that, and he'd do that part again a million times over, but now that he actually had to fulfill the other end of the bargain, he was sweating bullets.

This was ridiculous, he told himself. He worked for the FBI. He had faced off with countless fugitives and general sickos, so why was the mere prospect of semi-invading his partner's personal space bothering him so much? He had been shot at before. This was nothing compared to that!

He mustered up some courage, and held his hand out for her to take, before standing up and pulling her with him. They walked out to the dance floor (if it could even be called that, it was basically just some linoleum in the middle of the room), and he stood there awkwardly for a minute before she (thankfully) took the lead.

"Alright boss, don't get all weird on me now." She said, and he had to fight the urge to let out a nervous, slightly hysterical laugh. Something was seriously wrong with him. They moved onto the floor, and she kept his hand in hers, pulling him closer to her. His motor functions were ceasing to cooperate, and he was beginning to think this was a terrible idea. The band started playing a slow song, and he took a deep breath.

"_Dance me to your beauty, with a burning violin,  
>Dance me through the panic, 'til I'm gathered safely in<br>Lift me like an olive branch, and be my homeward dove,  
>And dance me to the end of love."<em>

The song seemed to get quieter as they swayed slowly on the spot, and he watched as the soft lighting of the dance floor made her red hair seemed to have an ethereal glow. Her eyes lit up as she glanced at him and caught him looking at her, and he felt something strangely like hope unfurl deep inside of him. Everything else seemed a blur, and he knew that this wasn't appropriate, they were friends, partners and she had a boyfriend, but he couldn't force himself to leave. He couldn't force himself to let go of her hand and leave right now, because if he did that he knew he'd regret it for the rest of his life.

They danced for only a few minutes, but it felt like hours, and when the song ended, neither one of them really moved. They just stood there for a few minutes, looking anywhere but at each other, until the band started playing a faster song that neither of them wanted to listen to. "I should go." She said, breaking the silence, and he didn't even have the words to tell her that he didn't want her to go, that he wanted her to stay with him, preferably forever.

She went back to the table to grab her jacket before he had a chance to say anything or do anything, and he panicked. He didn't know where this strange burst of courage came from, but he took off after her, throwing some bills down on the table and heading out the front door. "Liv!" he called, watching as she slowed down, but didn't turn around. "Liv." He said her name quietly as he got closer, and she finally looked at him, and he saw a lot of emotions flit across her face. His stomach churned.

"I really need to get home. To Frank." She added, unnecessarily, and he felt his stomach drop. He was starting to figure out what his problem was.

"I just want to make sure we're okay." He said, and he realized he was bordering on desperate here, but he couldn't leave without knowing that they'd be able to go back to normal.

"We're fine, why wouldn't we be?" She said, and her words were rushed, and she didn't at all sound like herself.

"In there… I didn't mean to… to freak you out or anything." Lincoln said, and he was starting to sweat a little again, and he honestly felt like he was fifteen again.

"I'm not freaked out. I just thought…" She trailed off and looked away from him, and he felt like an eternity passed before she spoke again, "It felt like we had a moment. And that scares me a little, because you're my boss. And my partner, and my best friend, and I have a boyfriend." Her hands were moving around a lot while she was talking, and it was distracting for a minute, that was until he saw that she was staring at him and the emotion he saw on her face made him lose his train of thought.

"We _did_ have a moment," he said hoarsely, "We did, and I wanted us to, and I promised myself that I wasn't going to do this to either of us." He wanted to stop talking, but his brain didn't seem to realize that. "You are… perfect. And way out of my league, and I am going to shut up now before I say anything else stupid. I'll see you at work tomorrow." He began to walk away from her, but before he could get any respectable distance between them, he felt her grab his hand, and she was suddenly right in front of him, and she was moving closer.

She pressed her lips to his, and he froze and wanted to melt simultaneously. They broke apart slowly, and she rested her forehead on his, and he didn't want to move, or breathe, or do anything that would scare her away. "Don't say anything." She whispered, and so he didn't.

He didn't say anything, and neither did she. They just stood there, and after a few seconds they started dancing to music that only the two of them could hear.


	4. Remembrance

**A/N:** _Alright, here we go! Just a warning, you're going to want some tissues for this one. This particular installment takes place after Peter returns. Lincoln and Liv start to remember some things about their lives before Peter disappeared and the timelines changed. **Just to make sure that people understand this: None of these stories are related. This isn't a chaptered story, these are all one-shot pieces**. Please review if you read!_

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><p>Sometimes it felt like something was missing. He'd go home to an empty apartment, she'd go home to Frank, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why he felt so empty all the time.<p>

She felt it too. Things were good with Frank, but she still felt this hole in her life that she couldn't seem to fill, no matter how hard she tried. She buried herself in her work because of it. She worked late to avoid coming home to an apartment that somehow made her feel incredibly lonely.

He stayed home from work for one day, and he usually never took time off. He felt miserable. He couldn't figure it out – it wasn't like he felt sick, he just felt _terrible_, and had no energy to go to work and try to be productive. He rearranged his entire apartment, he cleaned out his closet, and he did everything and anything he could think of to avoid thinking for too long, because if he did, he felt like his brain was spinning out of control, trying to find something.

They both got a call from Colonel Broyles, telling them the Other Side had pulled a man from their Reiden Lake who claimed to know everything about Fringe Division and the people who worked there, both on the Other Side, and this side. He said that this man, who claimed to be the Secretary's long dead son, Peter, had mentioned Olivia by name more than one time, and the thought made Lincoln intensely uncomfortable.

Olivia never said anything, but she felt like she should know who Peter was. Not just because if he really was the Secretary's son, she should know more about him, but because the name was resonating with her for reasons she couldn't understand. Peter Bishop. She had been a kid when he had disappeared, and she didn't understand why she felt like this.

Lincoln felt like he didn't even know his own mind anymore. Peter Bishop had come along, and suddenly Lincoln was having déjà vu all the time – nearly every second of the day, and it scared him for multiple reasons, one of them being that if he was feeling like he had done all these things before, didn't it make sense that he _had_ in some weird way? He wanted to talk to someone about it, but not just some person, not Charlie… he really wanted to talk to Olivia. He had noticed how uncomfortable she had looked during the debriefing about the supposedly Peter Bishop, but he was wondering if maybe there was a reason she had looked so nervous.

It was the middle of the night at Liv's apartment, and she had been in the middle of a perfectly good sleep, when something woke her up. She bolted upright in bed, nearly knocking Frank off of the mattress, and she was horrified to realize she was crying. Sobbing, really. She felt exhausted, and she didn't understand what her emotions were doing. "Liv?" Frank asked her quietly, "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"I don't know," She murmured back to him, "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"It was probably just a bad dream. Try to go back to sleep, okay?" Frank said, rubbing her arm in a soothing manner, but for some reason, she wanted to push him away, tell him to stop touching her. It all felt so wrong, and that scared her, and she started crying all over again. When she looked back at Frank, he had already fallen back asleep.

Across town, Lincoln was awake as well. He had these feelings of dread that had been spiraling in his stomach all night, and it finally got to be too much for him to even sleep. He had awoken that night for no particular reason, and he couldn't go back to sleep now, no matter how hard he tried. Somewhere in his building he could hear a small child crying, and once again, he was confronted with a wave of déjà vu so hard that he felt his legs go weak. None of this made sense. He needed to talk about this with someone before he went crazy, and he was just about to pick up his earpiece when it went off, nearly scaring him half to death.

"Agent Lee." He said formally, in case it was his boss, but it wasn't.

"Lincoln…" Liv's voice came through, sounding gravelly and tired, and he thought he might have heard her sniff a few times before he finally spoke.

"What's happened? Where are you?" He asked immediately, his protective streak kicking in and taking over.

"I'm at home, I'm fine, I just… I woke up and I can't stop crying and I don't know what's happening to me or what's making me so upset all the time…" She started sobbing again, and Lincoln felt his heart clench painfully listening to her.

"Okay, try to calm down, it's okay, take a deep breath," he said, wishing he could follow his own advice and try to get a hold of himself so he could take care of her, "Where's Frank? Is he there?"

She was quiet for a second, "He's asleep. He woke up, but he fell back asleep."

Lincoln gritted his teeth, "Well wake him up again and tell him what's going on. This is his job."

"It's hardly his job, Lincoln."

"It's his job as your boyfriend…" He said.

"Fiancé," She corrected.

"Whatever, still. Wake him up. Tell him you need to talk."

She was quiet even longer this time, and he was starting to think she had hung up on him, but then he heard her voice, small and distant, "I wanted to talk to you." She said, and he felt his breath catch in his throat as he tried to figure out what that could possibly mean. "I'll go." She said, and before he could say anything, he heard a small beep signaling that she was gone.

He was incredibly frustrated with himself, and he wanted to punch something. He didn't know how to handle all these emotions swirling around inside of him. He wanted to get to her house and make sure she was okay, but he didn't know if she wanted him there or if she was just emotional and that's why she had called him.

Suddenly, he felt so nauseas that he was sure he was going to be sick. He stumbled to the bathroom, and splashed some cold water on his face, and when he looked in the mirror, he didn't even recognize himself. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks.

He walked out of the bathroom, and suddenly a thought crossed his mind so quickly that he didn't even have a chance to think about it before he was muttering to himself, "I need to call Liv and find out what Henry wants for his birthday…" He said, before stopping dead in his tracks. "Oh, god."

Liv was not faring much better in her apartment. Frank still hadn't woken up, and she was overcome with the feeling that he shouldn't even be there at all, and she shut her eyes, squeezing them shut, trying to overcome the feelings that were threatening to take over her. When she opened her eyes, she walked to the spare bedroom, and was struck for a second by the fact that there wasn't a crib in there. "Why would I have thought…" She said aloud to herself, and then suddenly, her knees nearly gave out. She remembered.

The memories came back in flashes as she slumped to the floor of the room. Memories of her and Frank arguing in the hospital, and memories of the Secretary coming to her apartment, which had been full of boxes at the time. She remembered Lincoln. She remembered him worrying over her when she finally told him, and then she remembered the night in China Town. He told her he loved her. He saved her life. He was going to save her child. _Oh god,_ she thought, _my baby._ She was going to be sick.

She couldn't stop crying. Waves of grief washed over her as she remembered absolutely everything. She saw Peter's face briefly, and she didn't know what to do. She put her hand over her mouth and tried to calm her sobs, but she was flooded with emotions and couldn't seem to stop herself from letting out loud, anguish-filled sobs. Frank suddenly ran into the room, and his eyes widened when he saw Olivia on the floor. "Liv?" He asked tentatively, "What the hell is going on? Talk to me, please." Olivia turned to look at him and couldn't understand why he was being so nice to her, why he was even here at all. If she remembered, surely he did too?

"You don't…" She sniffed, "… you don't remember?"

He looked at her, concern written all over his face, "Remember what? Olivia, for the love of God, please tell me what's going on."

"Call Lincoln." She said firmly, and another wave of sadness took over her as she thought of her poor son. He was gone, and there was nothing she could do to fix it, and her heart was cracking in half. She had loved him more than life itself, and she couldn't do anything to help him. What kind of mother did that make her? She was aware that Frank had left the room, but she couldn't be bothered trying to comprehend what was happening around her anymore.

She shut her eyes and the tears started again, streaming down her face and she was helpless to stop them. "Henry…" She whispered, and then she was vaguely aware of a pair of arms lifting her up from the floor. Lincoln.

"It's going to be okay Liv, I'm here, I'm right here."

She tried to squirm out of his grasp. If he didn't remember then she didn't want to be near him – she didn't think she could take it if she knew about how he felt for her and he didn't even remember saying it. She didn't want to go back to that.

"Liv, stop." He said, and she noticed that his voice broke on the last word. He set her down on the couch, and when she looked at him, she took in his red eyes and the way that he was looking at her, and she knew.

"You remember." She said hoarsely, and that was all it took for the both of them to start crying again. "You remember…" She repeated, and he pulled her into his arms, both of them ignoring the shocked look on Frank's face as he watched the scene unfold from the kitchen.

"I'm so sorry Liv, I don't know what happened, I can't…" Lincoln rambled, and Olivia put a hand on his chest to quiet him.

"Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault, I was his _mother_ and I didn't even remember!" She said, sobbing again, and Lincoln's heart was breaking as he held her close.

"No, no, Liv, don't. You couldn't have known. How would you have known?" he said, his voice cracking again as he tried to comfort her as much as he could.

"Would someone mind telling me what the hell is going on?" Frank said loudly, and both Lincoln and Liv jumped. They had both forgotten he was there.

"Can you leave us alone for a minute?" Liv said, as gently as she could. He didn't remember, and he didn't deserve to be kicked out.

Frank nodded, "You know what? I'll stay with my brother tonight. Just… just call me in the morning so I don't worry, okay?" He said, and Olivia nodded, not looking at him. She felt bad that she was treating him like this, but if he knew that truth he'd be more upset.

Frank watched the way that Liv was clinging to Lincoln and willed himself not to be jealous. It was hard to ignore that her left hand was clutching a handful of his shirt and while he didn't understand all the details, he was feeling so betrayed that even if he wanted to stay, he didn't think he could take it. He turned away from them and walked out of the apartment, shutting the door behind him as he went.

Lincoln turned to look at Olivia and pushed some hair out of her eyes. "I don't even know what to say. I don't know what's happening."

"Frank doesn't remember." Liv said softly, and she was staring at Lincoln as if she couldn't believe he was real. "Don't leave me here tonight. Stay. Please?" She said, and for a minute, Lincoln had a flashback to the two of them falling asleep on the couch, a little baby curled up in Liv's arms. He started tearing up all over again, and Liv pushed herself closer to him, pulling a blanket off the back of the couch and wrapping it around them.

"There's nowhere else for me to be," Lincoln said, his voice deep and full of meaning. He remembered that night vividly now, and he couldn't stop thinking about it. He loved her, he always had, and she knew it, and now everything was so confusing and devastating for the both of them.

Liv started crying all over again at Lincoln's words, and his arms tightened around her waist as he tried to calm her down. "I can't stop crying…" She choked out, and she felt his head settle in the crook of her neck as he pulled her even closer, if that was possible. It was as if he was trying to absorb her pain so she didn't have to feel it anymore.

Olivia remembered thinking that one of them should really call Charlie or someone, but they were both too tired and too wrapped up in their feelings to move an inch. Eventually Olivia stopped crying, though she still felt a dull ache as she closed her eyes. She was nearly asleep when Lincoln spoke.

"No matter what happens after this, no matter what this means, I want you to know that you were an incredible mother. He loved you so much, and you want to know something else? So do I." His voice broke, and he sucked in a deep breath to try to steady his emotions. "I'm going to take care of you. I'm not going to leave you, and we're going to get through this together. I promise."

Liv didn't say anything - she didn't trust herself to speak. She reached up to touch his face with one hand, and felt him lean into her touch slightly. "I loved him so much." She said, her voice shaky, "I can't believe this is happening. I can't… I can't do this alone. I can't do this without you." She said, and that was as much of a confession as she could give Lincoln.

"It's you and me." He said, and the two of them sat in silence, thinking of the son they loved and lost, and what the future would bring for them both.


	5. From the Beginning

**A/N:** _This one is a prompt that I recieved on Tumblr - a lot of people wanted to see a back story (how Liv and Linc met), also mentions of Charlie, and the vortex mentioned by Lincoln in "6:02AM EST". I had a lot of fun writing this one, hope you all like it! Please review if you read!_

* * *

><p>She looked in the mirror and smiled to herself, admiring her work. Red hair was definitely different than she was used to, but she was starting her new job tomorrow, and she felt like with such a career change, she needed to change something else as well. This was her chance to start over, and make people saw the side of her that she wanted them to see.<p>

She knew she was going to be working with at least one person from the academy, and while that made her a little nervous, she also knew that she was going to prove it to everyone that she was more than capable of doing this job. Getting a call-up to Fringe Division wasn't just any job. This was the toughest job she was ever going to have to do.

Looking in the mirror one last time, she took a deep breath, and prepared herself for what might happen today. Crazy things happened in Fringe Division, and she had no idea what was in store for her.

* * *

><p>"New girl's here." Charlie's gruff voice greeted him when he walked in the room, and he rolled his eyes.<p>

"So?" He asked, taking his jacket off and hanging it on the back of his chair.

"So… you're our leader, you're supposed to make her feel welcome." Charlie said, smirking at Lincoln.

"Shut up. I'm not doing anything until Broyles asks me to, okay? We have a case to get solved and just because someone new is here doesn't mean I'm going to drop everything."

Charlie mumbled something about Lincoln being full of himself, but Lincoln stopped paying attention. Sure, he was a bit bitter that someone was coming to join their team. It had always been Charlie and Lincoln, partners and best friends, and not only was someone disrupting their partnership, but it was a girl. Lincoln was aware of how terribly sexist that sounded, but he tried not to dwell on it.

The door to HQ opened and Broyles walked in, with a redheaded woman behind him and it took everything Lincoln had not to shout at the top of his lungs. He knew this woman. Not well, granted, but he remembered her from the Academy. "Lee, Francis, this is Olivia Dunham. She'll be partnering with you." He said, and without another word, he left the three of them alone.

Charlie was the first one to introduce himself, and Lincoln noticed how Olivia's eyes flicked to him every few seconds as though she was trying to figure out where she recognized him from. He moved forward to introduce himself, but just as he got close, another agent from across the room took it upon himself to step right in front of Lincoln and offer his hand to Olivia, who shook it warily.

Lincoln rolled his eyes for the millionth time that day, and waited patiently for his turn to meet his new partner. When he finally got closer to her, he thought for a second that her eyes were an unreal shade of green, but then she spoke, and he forgot all the nice things he had been thinking.

"Ah, Lincoln Lee. I remember you." She had said, in the confident, sure-of-herself way that she always spoke with, and Lincoln was taken aback for a second.

"Um, you do?" he asked, and she nodded.

"From the Academy. I remember you. You're a science nerd, right?" She asks, and he frowns for a second.

"I don't know if I'd put it like that…"

"No, she's right." Charlie said, and Lincoln shot a glare in his direction.

* * *

><p>Two weeks went by, and the team was slowly learning how to work with each other and make the day go by smoothly. Charlie and Olivia got along really well, and they were the first to form a solid friendship with each other. Sometimes Lincoln felt jealous. He knew it was ridiculous to feel that way, but he couldn't help it sometimes.<p>

Lincoln and Olivia were civil to each other, but they weren't rushing to be best friends, either. It seemed like right when they were starting to get along, something would happen that would cause them to argue. Lincoln thought Olivia was the most stubborn person he had ever met, but Olivia also thought the same about him. They argued about this fact, as well.

"Today we've got a vortex. Class 4. I need all hands on deck, immediately." Colonel Broyles stood in front of them, addressing Lincoln next. "Agent Lee, I need your team down there first. Quarantine protocol needs to be initiated."

"Sir, that area is full of families, we can't possibly - " Lincoln started, but stopped when Broyles held up a hand to silence him.

"We've ordered everyone to evacuate. Whether they do it or not is not something we can worry about right now. We need to get down there and stop this thing from getting any bigger, or it's going to swallow half of this city."

Charlie put a hand on Lincoln's shoulder as a sign that they just leave without any other complaints from him, and Lincoln shrugged him off. "We'll take care of it, sir." Lincoln said, although not without attitude.

The three Fringe agents stormed out the door, almost the entire Fringe division following suit, all piling into the vans that were waiting to take them to the site of the vortex. "Dunham, you ever seen a class 4 vortex before?" Charlie asked her, watching as she re-laced her boots.

"Nope," she replied, "but I'm looking forward to getting up close and personal with this one." She said, grinning.

"We're not getting that close, Olivia. Don't get your hopes up." Lincoln said, and Olivia frowned.

"We're initiating the amber, how the hell are we going to do that if we don't get close enough?"

Lincoln sighed, "There's only so much we can do, Olivia. If we get too close, that vortex will swallow us and most of the city block whole, and we're not going to let that happen."

Olivia rolled her eyes, "Yes sir."

Lincoln opened his mouth to respond, but was immediately stopped by the van screeching to a halt. They had arrived, and he didn't react right away, taking a deep breath to steady himself before facing this thing. The back doors flew open, and the team shuffled out, starting to assess the situation.

Olivia was immediately overwhelmed. There were people everywhere, some were crying, and some looked angry. The police tape was barely holding people back, and she watched in awe as Lincoln and Charlie took off towards the vortex site, ducking under the police tape to get there.

"Dunham! Let's go!" Lincoln called, and Olivia snapped out of her trance, following her partners.

"I need a full scan of this area, someone figure out how long we have!" Lincoln shouted. The wind was picking up, and Olivia definitely noticed.

"Here, go put this on that mark," Lincoln pointed at a blue 'x' made out of tape on the floor, "but don't press the button until I give the signal."

"I know how amber protocol works." Liv remarked, and Lincoln looked like he wanted to snap at her, if his tense jaw was anything to go by.

"We've got about 10 minutes before this gets really out of control, Agent Lee," A junior agent told Lincoln, "Amber needs to be put out now."

Lincoln sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, something Olivia noticed he did when he was thinking, and trying to make a decision.

"We don't have a choice." She said to him, quietly, and he looked at her with something like surprise on his face, "We have to save the rest of those people who live around here, Lincoln." She said, and he was still staring at her.

"Amber protocol in 60 seconds." He said, speaking into his earpiece so the other agents could hear.

Olivia smiled at him briefly, happy that he had taken her advice, before pressing the button on the amber canister. The countdown started, and the motion around Olivia started to pick up. People were still streaming out of the apartment building, and Olivia's heart clenched as she watched a mother struggle to get her two children out of the front door. On impulse, Olivia rushed over to them. "Hey kids," she started, looking at the mother quickly, "what do you say you guys get outside, and then I'll show you my badge later?" She asked, and the little girl nodded. "Alright, out you go!" She said, smiling when the mother sent her a grateful look.

Turning back towards the scene, she saw Lincoln watching her again, that surprised look still on his face. She didn't get a chance to say anything before the countdown got louder, and Olivia started to panic a little. "Lincoln! Let's go!" She called out to him, and he nodded, but something out of the corner of his eye got his attention. There was a little boy in the corner of the room, his knees pulled up to his chest. "Lincoln!" Olivia called again, her eyes wide with panic.

"Just give me a second!" He said, and made his way over to the boy, ignoring the countdown that was already at 60 seconds.

"Hey, little man. You need to get outside with your parents!" He said, smiling and trying to keep the sheer fear off of his face.

"I don't know where my Mommy is…" the little boy sobbed, and Lincoln tensed.

"Is she outside? Did you get lost?" he asked, ignoring Olivia's calls from the other side of the room, and Charlie's voice in his earpiece asking where the hell they were.

The little boy shook his head, "I don't know where she is!" He cried, and Lincoln bent down to pick him up, "No! I want my Mommy! I can't leave without my Mommy!"

Lincoln frowned, "Alright, it's okay, I'm with Fringe Division, okay? I'm going to help you get out of here and then we'll find your Mom, okay?" He spoke in a soft voice, and he noticed that Olivia had gotten closer, close enough to hear the conversation.

"Lincoln, we have to go." She said quietly, so as not to scare the little boy.

"I can't leave him here, Liv." He said, and Olivia faltered – he had never called her by her nickname before.

"We need to get out, Lincoln, we have less than 50 seconds."

The little boy started to stand just then, and Lincoln glanced out the door, seeing a woman crying and pointing inside the building to where they were. "Is that your Mom, pal?"

"Yeah! I can see her!" He said, almost jumping up and down.

"Listen, I want you to run out the door to her as fast as you can, okay? I'll race you…" Lincoln said and that got the boy running, straight out the door to where his mother was.

"Lincoln!" Olivia's voice broke him out of his thoughts, and he nearly puked when he saw the amber gas filling the upstairs level. "We need to go, now." She said firmly, and he nodded.

Lincoln ran to the door, and pushed, but nothing happened. "What the…" he said darkly, shoving at the automatic doors with all his might. "They're supposed to open by force if the power is disconnected…" He muttered, and Olivia's panicked voice caused him to turn around.

The gas was filling up the elevator, and when he glanced through the doors, he saw Charlie, wide-eyed, shouting orders at junior agents who were trying everything to get Lincoln and Olivia out without getting too close to the vortex.

"Alright, brace yourself," Olivia said, and before Lincoln could react, she whipped out her gun and shot the glass to his right, which she immediately kicked through. She kept kicking until there was a space big enough for her to crawl through. "Come on, hurry up!" She said, looking exasperated.

Lincoln let out a disbelieving laugh before pushing through the glass, shoulders first. He got to his waist before he let out a groan, and stopped moving. "Shit." He cursed, and Olivia looked back at him.

"What are you doing? Come on!"

"I'm stuck." He said, "I think I'm cut too."

Olivia ran back over to him, and saw that he was bleeding, "Oh no… okay… Okay. This is fine, it's going to be fine…"

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You need to pull that piece of glass out, Lincoln." She said, "And hurry up!" She said, "we have 30 seconds!"

"I can't pull it out… Olivia, pull me through."

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Just do it! I can't… I have a thing about blood, okay? I can't pull it out, I need you to just pull me the rest of the way through!"

"I'll just make that cut worse! There's got to be another way out."

"Dunham! Just do it." Lincoln said firmly, looking into Olivia's eyes. He saw the fear there, and spoke quietly, as the amber countdown rang out in his earpiece, "Pull me out. Please."

"It's going to hurt," she said just as quietly, and he nodded.

"Just do it."

She didn't count, didn't give him any warning whatsoever, she just pulled with all the force she had left, and he grimaced, tears springing to his eyes as the piece of glass stuck in his side deepened.

They both fell onto the sidewalk behind Olivia, and barely got up in time before the gas was seeping out of the crack that they had just created. "Go!" Lincoln yelled, and Olivia grabbed his arm, literally pulling him behind her. They just got behind the quarantine line just as the amber started to solidify.

"Jesus, what the hell happened in there?" Charlie shouted at them, and Lincoln glanced at Olivia, who was laughing, and laughing hard.

Lincoln couldn't help it; as soon as he saw her laughing so hard, he started to laugh as well, the both of them lying on the sidewalk. He was practically bleeding out, but he didn't even feel the pain.

"You guys are a pain in my ass, you know that?" Charlie said, shaking his head as he walked away from them, rounding up the rest of the Fringe team.

Lincoln calmed down, taking a few deep breaths before turning to Olivia, who was standing, brushing the dirt off of her pants. "Hey, Dunham." She turned to him, a glimmer of a smile still on her face. "Thanks." He said, and she nodded.

"Anytime, pal."


End file.
